The Agency for Identification Documents, Records and Data Exchange of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IDDEEA BiH) warned that, due to several years of non-renewal of equipment, there are possible problems in continuous and efficient operations, primarily in connection with the issuance of personal documents, which is the responsibility of this agency.
Emphasizing that, due to the expenditure limit that was left to them in the BiH budget, the amount of identification documents – identity cards, driver’s licenses and passports was reduced below the contracted and planned, which in the future calls into question the needs of citizens, from the Agency pointed out that for them efficient functioning requires and worthy technical means.
38.5 million BAM is set for IDDEEA expenditures in the BiH budget for 2024, which this agency considers insufficient despite all efforts to minimize expenditures for official travel, mobile phones, representation and fuel procurement.
“Such a low upper limit of expenditure leaves little room for capital investments, which is unrealistic because the fact is that for the last two years, capital procurement has not been carried out at all or has been carried out in such a small framework that it means nothing to the Agency, considering that the existing equipment is already outdated , and all because of temporary financing, as well as significantly low upper spending limits for the Agency for the past few years,” the IDDEEA states.
They warn that worn-out equipment in the technical sector, as well as in the Center for storage, personalization and transport of documents, has not been renewed for many years and that the risk of it ceasing to work, as they stated, is huge and certain.
“The functioning of the Agency in almost all segments of its work has been called into question in this way. In order for all business processes to be carried out successfully, on which the efficient functioning of the system of personalization, transport and storage of documents depends, as well as the performance of other tasks within the competence of the Agency, it is necessary to the Agency is provided with worthy technical resources,” added the IDDEEA.
Evaluating that the planned 38.5 million BAM from the BiH budget is insufficient for the functioning of the Agency in 2024, the IDDEEA states that, in an annex to the regular budget request, they are asking for another 11,117,000 BAM, of which 4,130,000 relate to current expenditures for the procurement of materials for identity cards, driver’s licenses and passports, and expenditures for equipment transportation services, as well as equipment maintenance and materials.
The remaining 7,047,000 BAM refers to capital expenditures for the implementation of projects initiated by the EU, specified from the IDDEEA in the answer submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly to a parliamentary question regarding the Agency’s request to the competent ministry for the allocation of funds from the BiH budget for 2024.
